A new year means new characters, whether on our favorite freshman shows or returning series. As 2012 draws to a close, HuffPost TV is looking back...

"Call The Midwife" will be back for a second season in March, but fear not, there's a holiday special to tide viewers over until the 2013 premiere. Th...

I was thinking about my earliest feelings of sexuality because I'm hooked on the new Sunday PBS series Call the Midwife, set in slummy East-End London in the 1950s.

The British import, which premiered in the U.S. on PBS Sunday night, transplants Downton's formula for success (British period drama with plenty of plot twists) from the English countryside in the early 1920's to a working class neighborhood in 1950's London.

"Call the Midwife" does, in its own gentle way, send the message that determined people -- many of them women -- who ignore their allegedly limited opportunities can help create and sustain a caring community.

There are four shows that merit special recognition and they're all quite different from each other. No matter what your tastes are, I'm hoping you'll spot at least one or two promising candidates here.